Loss leaves the Trojans looking for a new coach

UCLA #24 Paul Perkins scores a touchdown late in the 4th quarter. UCLA defeated USC 35 to 14 in a matchup of cross town rivals at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. photo by (John McCoy/Los Angeles Daily News)

Wanted: Head Football Coach, USC

Description: The University of Southern California is looking for a full-time head football coach. Qualifications include prior experience building and maintaining a big-time college football program or a successful tenure as an NFL head coach. Candidates must have a proven offensive or defensive philosophy with a strong emphasis on an exciting, winning brand of football, the ability to relate and connect with top-notch high school prospects and groom 18- to 22-year-old college players into a cohesive team and potential NFL players.

Requirements: Must be able to beat long-time rivals UCLA and Notre Dame on a consistent basis and preferably keep Ed Orgeron on staff in some capacity.

Look, I’m not here to rain on anyone’s parade.

And this certainly isn’t a case of piling on after USC got walloped Saturday 35-14 by cross-town rival UCLA in a game in which the Bruins were the smarter, more physical, better-coached team.

Nor is it intended to bash Orgeron, who’s done an admirable job just keeping the Trojans afloat after taking over this sinking ship nine weeks ago from Lane Kiffin.

But it’s now time for USC to get serious about finding a new football coach to lead the program into a new era.

Beginning today, in earnest, with Athletic Director Pat Haden formulating his wish list and actively pursuing the next USC coach.

Haden’s waited patiently the last two months or so, letting this season play out and respectfully allowing Orgeron to do his job without the added pressure on a very public coaching search.

Yes, there have been overtures to former NFL head coached Jack Del Rio — now a defensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos — and Jon Gruden, the Monday Night Football analyst. But both summits were hush-hush situations, more likely just to gauge potential interest.

But for the most part, Haden has allowed the Trojans to play this season without the suffocating shadow cast by a high-profile coaching hunt.

That will change now that USC’s regular season is over and, for the most part, so is the rest of college football save for the handful of conference championship games.

We know now that Texas A&M’s Kevin Sumlin, reportedly at the top of Haden’s wish list, is no longer available after agreeing to a long-term extension with the Aggies.

The timing should not be conspicuous. Texas A&M knew full well Sumlin was about to get the full-court press by USC, and it eliminated any possibility by showing him the money.

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That is a blow to the Trojans, but Haden’s search should not begin and end there.

There are too many proven program builders across college football who, given the talent pipeline and financial might of USC, can return the Trojans back to prominence.

Of that group, a handful would willingly drop everything to come west to take over one of the top-five jobs in the country.

Maybe it’s Gruden, who, if he isn’t interested, certainly hasn’t come out and said it.

Maybe it’s Vanderbilt coach James Franklin, who has done a worthy job turning the Commodores into a relevant program in the Southeastern Conference.

Don’t be scared off by Vanderbilt’s 4-4 SEC record and focus instead on what Franklin’s made of a non-traditional football school while dealing with academic requirements no one else in the SEC deals with.

Vanderbilt is 8-4 this year, won four straight games and is bowl eligible. And everything the Commodores have done well over the last few years ago is directly the result of their young, energetic coach who has shown the ability to build and maintain a football program.

Boise State’s Chris Petersen should also be on that list, regardless of the Broncos’ struggles this year.

As for Orgeron, he was the breath of fresh air USC desperately needed after Kiffin was shown the door. And he provided exactly that simply by insisting his players have fun again and getting out of the way of his assistants and letting them do their jobs.

But while that might work for a short period of time, it’s not the sort of sustainable leadership the Trojans need as they prepare to march into the future.

Yes, it was good enough to help USC turn its season around with a 6-1 run from late September to mid November, but it wasn’t adequate to beat UCLA or Notre Dame, and while those losses shouldn’t completely rule out Orgeron, nor should they be ignored.

“That’s what the head coach at USC is supposed to do,” Orgeron said, expressing disappointment about dropping both rivalry games.

Orgeron was put in a difficult spot, but give him credit for getting the most he could out of the Trojans and playing his way into consideration for the job long term.

No one could have predicted that when he replaced Kiffin, but here his is, still in the running.

“What the future holds, we don’t know,” Orgeron said. ”Whatever happens, these young kids will always be in my heart.”

If he doesn’t get the job, the new coach would be well-served to keep him on staff in some capacity. He’s a hell of a recruiter and he’s proven to be a loyal solider over the years.

And no matter what, he sounded ready to work Sunday morning no matter what it means for his future.

“Tomorrow brings another day,” he said. “The sun is going to shine and we’re going to get after it again.”